U.S. patent number 4,951,233 [Application Number 07/227,891] was granted by the patent office on 1990-08-21 for document producing apparatus having in-document layout display.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Hitachi, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Masaki Fujiwara, Masaki Kawase, Kiyoshi Masuda, Shigeki Taniguchi.
United States Patent |
4,951,233 |
Fujiwara , et al. |
August 21, 1990 |
Document producing apparatus having in-document layout display
Abstract
A document producing apparatus comprises an input unit for
inputting descriptive contents such as characters or figures which
contstruct a document and a format which defines a sheet size of a
paper sheet used, a sheet direction of portrait or landscape in
which the sheet is to be used, and a layout of the descriptive
contents in each page, a storage unit for storing therein the
descriptive contents and the format inputted from the input unit, a
display unit for selectively displaying the contents stored in the
storage unit, and an in-document layout editing unit for displaying
on the display unit a layout of a plurality of pages forming the
document so that page information of the respective pages are
partitioned in due order from a leading page and for every
predetermined number of pages and are arranged in one display
image, the page information including at least the sheet size and
the sheet direction stored in the storage unit. The apparatus may
further comprise a page editing unit for performing the editing for
a desired page while referring to a display image displayed on the
display unit.
Inventors: |
Fujiwara; Masaki (Hitachi,
JP), Kawase; Masaki (Katsuta, JP), Masuda;
Kiyoshi (Hitachi, JP), Taniguchi; Shigeki
(Hitachi, JP) |
Assignee: |
Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
26508529 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/227,891 |
Filed: |
August 3, 1988 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 5, 1987 [JP] |
|
|
62-194494 |
Aug 5, 1987 [JP] |
|
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62-194495 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/209;
715/804 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
40/106 (20200101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
17/21 (20060101); G06F 015/20 () |
Field of
Search: |
;364/518-523,9MSFile
;340/723,747,750,798-800 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Harkcom; Gary V.
Assistant Examiner: Herndon; H. R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Antonelli, Terry, Stout &
Kraus
Claims
We claim:
1. A document producing apparatus, comprising:
an input unit including means for inputting descriptive contents,
such as characters or figures, which form a multi-page document and
a format which defines a sheet size of a paper sheet to be used for
each page of said document, a sheet direction of portrait or
landscape in which the sheet is to be used, and a layout of the
descriptive contents in each page;
a storage unit including means for storing therein said descriptive
contents and said format inputted from said input unit;
a display unit for selectively displaying the contents stored by
said storage unit; and
in-document layout displaying means for simultaneously displaying
on said display unit respective page patterns of plural pages
included in said document so that page information of the
respective pages are partitioned in successive order from a leading
page and for every one of a predetermined number of pages of said
document and are arranged in one display image, said page
information including at least the sheet size and the sheet
direction stored in said storage unit.
2. A document producing apparatus, comprising:
an input unit including means for inputting descriptive contents,
such as characters of figures, which form a document and a format
which defines a sheet size of a paper sheet to be used, a sheet
direction of portrait or landscape in which the sheet is to be
used, and a layout of the descriptive contents in each page;
a storage unit including means for storing therein said descriptive
contents and said format inputted from said input unit;
a display unit for selectively displaying the contents stored by
said storage unit;
in-document layout displaying means for simultaneously displaying
on said display unit respective page patterns of plural pages
included in said document so that page information of the
respective pages are partitioned in due order from a leading page
and for every predetermined number of pages and are arranged in one
display image, said page information including at least the sheet
size and the sheet direction stored in said storage unit; and
chapter managing means for managing the plurality of pages forming
said document while partitioning them into a plurality of chapters
each of which includes a series of selected pages, said in-document
layout displaying means displaying said page information
partitively for every chapter.
3. A document producing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the
page information for every chapter displayed by said in-document
layout displaying means includes a consecutive chapter number of
that chapter, a page number of a leading page in that chapter, and
a page number of an ending page in that chapter.
4. A document producing apparatus comprising:
an input unit including means for inputting descriptive contents,
such as characters or figures, which form a document and a format
which defines a sheet size of a paper sheet to be used, a sheet
direction of portrait or landscape in which the sheet is to be
used, and a layout of the descriptive contents in each page;
a storage unit including means for storing therein said descriptive
contents and said format inputted from said input unit;
a display unit for selectively displaying the contents stored by
said storage unit; and
in-document layout editing means including means for simultaneously
displaying on said display unit respective page patterns of plural
pages included in said document so that page information of the
respective pages ar partitioned in due order from a leading page
and for every predetermined number of pages and are arranged in one
display image, said page information including at least the sheet
size and the sheet direction stored in said storage unit;
in-page layout editing means including means selective change-over
between a document editing mode in which said in-document layout
editing means operates and a page editing mode in which said
in-page layout editing means operates;
means for specifying a page displayed in said page editing mode on
a display image displayed on said display unit in said document
editing mode in the case where a change-over from said page editing
mode to said document editing mode is made by said editing control
means;
means or designating a page to be displayed in said page editing
mode on a display image displayed on said display unit in said
document editing mode in he case where a changeover from said
document editing mode to said page editing mode is made by said
editing control means; and
page editing means for selecting one or more pages the editing of
which is desired and a type of the desired editing on the basis of
information inputted from said input unit and executing the
selected type of editing for the selected one or more pages.
5. A document producing apparatus according to claim 4, further
comprising chapter managing means for managing the plurality of
pages forming said document while partitioning them into a
plurality of chapters each of which includes a series of selected
pages, and chapter editing means for selecting a chapter the
editing is desired and a type of the desired editing on he basis of
information inputted from said input unit and executing the
selected type of editing for the selected chapter, said in-document
layout editing means displaying said page information partitively
for every chapter.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document producing apparatus,
and more particularly to a document producing apparatus capable of
simply performing the editing of an inputted document.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, document producing apparatuses such as word
processors can perform a variety of editing for a document made of
various data including tests (or characters), figures and graphs,
for example, movement or duplication in units of page and the
change of a format such as a paper sheet size in units of page. In
such a document producing apparatus, there is desired the provision
of means capable of visually confirming, before printing/displaying
of an inputted document, how the whole of the inputted document is
edited and readily making any change thereto, if desired. As means
for confirming the construction of pages in the whole of a document
is known means for pictorially displaying the pages of the document
on a display screen to demonstrate the construction of the pages in
the document, as has been disclosed by Japanese patent unexamined
publication No. JP-A-61-65359. Also, there is known means for
displaying an in-page layout for any one page, as has been
disclosed by Hitachi's Japanese word processor "Word Pal 260"
manual.
However, the above-mentioned conventional apparatuses involve the
following problems. Namely, in the apparatus disclosed by the No.
JP-A-61-65359, information concerning each page is only displayed
pictorially. Therefore, in the case where the number of pages
forming a document is large or in the case where the format of a
paper sheet is changed in units of page, it is hard to grasp which
picture does a page to be edited correspond to. Also, in the case
of displaying the in-page layout in the Hitachi's Word Pal 260,
though detailed information included in any page can be confirmed,
the confirmation of the entire document requires a troublesome
operation including a change-over between pages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to solve the
above-mentioned problems in the conventional apparatuses or to
provide a document producing apparatus provided with means for
displaying through a simple operation the construction of the whole
of a document being inputted.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a document
producing apparatus provided with means for performing the editing
inclusive of the change of format and/or the addition, deletion,
movement and/or duplication of a page(s) while referring to the
construction of the whole of the document which is being inputted
and is being displayed by the above-mentioned displaying means.
To attain the above-mentioned first object, a document producing
apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention
comprises an input unit for inputting descriptive contents such as
characters or figures which construct a document and a format which
defines a sheet size of a paper sheet used, a sheet direction of
portrait (lengthways) or landscape (sideways) in which the sheet is
to be used, and a layout of the descriptive contents in each page,
a storage unit for storing therein said descriptive contents and
said format inputted from said input unit, a display unit for
selectively displaying the contents stored in said storage unit,
and in-document layout displaying means for displaying on said
display unit a layout of a plurality of pages forming said document
so that page information of the respective pages are partitioned in
due order from a leading page and for every predetermined number of
pages and are arranged in one display image, said page information
including at least the sheet size and the sheet direction stored in
said storage unit.
To attain the above-mentioned second object, a document producing
apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention
comprises an input unit for inputting descriptive contents such as
characters or figures which construct a document and a format which
defines a sheet size of a paper sheet used, a sheet direction of
portrait (lengthways) or landscape (sideways) in which the sheet is
to be used, and a layout of the descriptive contents in each page,
a storage unit for storing therein said descriptive contents and
said format inputted from said input unit, a display unit for
selectively displaying the contents stored in said storage unit,
in-document layout editing means including means for displaying on
said display unit a layout of a plurality of pages forming said
document so that page information of the respective pages are
partitioned in due order from a leading page and for every
predetermined number of pages and are arranged in one display
image, said page information including at least the sheet size and
the sheet direction stored in said storage unit, in-page layout
editing means including means for displaying an in-page layout for
any one of said plurality of pages, editing control means for
performing a selective change-over between a document editing mode
in which said in-document layout editing means operates and a page
editing mode in which said in-page layout editing means operates,
means for specifying a page having been displayed in said page
editing mode on a display image displayed on said display unit in
said document editing mode in the case where a change-over from
said page editing mode to said document editing mode is made by
said editing control means, means for designating a page to be
displayed in said page editing mode on a display image displayed on
said display unit in said document editing mode in the case where a
change-over from said document editing mode to said page editing
mode is made by said editing control means, and page editing means
for selecting one or more pages the editing of which is desired and
a type of the desired editing on the basis of information inputted
from said input unit and executing the selected type of editing for
the selected one or more pages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a document
producing apparatus according to the present invention;
FIGS. 2A to 2E are views showing the constructions of various
document data;
FIG. 3 is a view showing the construction of a display management
table;
FIG. 4A is a view showing the construction of a designated-object
table for in-page layout;
FIG. 4B is a view showing the construction of a designated-object
table for in-document layout;
FIG. 5 is a view showing the construction of a cursor table;
FIG. 6A is a view showing a processing made by an editing control
unit;
FIG. 6B is a view showing a processing made by an in-page layout
editing unit;
FIG. 6C is a view showing a processing made by an in-document
layout editing unit;
FIG. 6D is a view showing a processing for display of an
in-document layout;
FIG. 6E is a view showing a processing for object
designation/release;
FIG. 6F is a view showing processing for pick-display;
FIG. 6G is a view showing a processing made by a page editing
unit;
FIG. 6H is a view showing a processing made by a chapter editing
unit;
FIG. 7A is a view showing an example of a display screen image
displayed in an in-page layout editing mode;
FIG. 7B is a view showing an example of a display screen image
after the name of a chapter has been changed in the in-page layout
editing mode;
FIG. 8A is a view showing an example of an image displayed in an
in-document layout editing mode;
FIG. 8B is a view showing an example of a display image in the case
where one page is designated in the in-document layout editing
mode;
FIG. 8C is a view showing an example of a display image in the case
where a plurality of pages are designated by a range designation in
the in-document layout editing mode;.
FIG. 8D is a view showing an example of a display image in the case
where one chapter is designated in the in-document layout editing
mode;
FIG. 8E is a view showing an example of a display image in the case
where a plurality of chapters are designated by a range designation
in the in-document layout editing mode;
FIG. 8F is a view showing an example of a display image after a
page format has been changed in the in-document layout editing
mode;
FIG. 8G is a view showing an example of a display screen image
after chapters have been moved in the in-document layout editing
mode;
FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of an auxiliary display image
for the change of a chapter name;
FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of an auxiliary display screen
image for the change of a page format; and,
FIG. 11 is a view showing page pattern date.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Generally, in a word processor, a user first establishes a format
inclusive of a size of a paper sheet used, a direction of portrait
(lengthways) or landscape (sideways) in which the sheet is to be
used, and so on and inputs a desired document inclusive of
characters, figures and graphs by means of an input device such as
a keyboard. The inputted document is stored into a memory in
accordance with the established format. The user can confirm the
contents of the stored document by selectively displaying any one
of pages forming the document on a display such as a cathode-ray
tube (CRT). Though a document producing apparatus according to the
present invention is provided with such functions of the general
word processor, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted. The
term "chapter" used in conjunction with an embodiment which will be
explained hereinafter means one partition made of one or more
consecutive pages and is irrelevant to which title is given to the
partition by the user in the document actually inputted by the
user. For example, when the user divides a document made of first
to eighth paragraphs into one partition consisting of the first to
fourth paragraphs and another partition consisting of the fifth to
eighth paragraphs, the present embodiment handles the first to
fourth paragraphs as a first chapter and the fifth to eighth
paragraphs as a second chapter. Accordingly, the term "chapter" is
a name used for convenience' sake and can be represented by another
term. Alternatively, any partition may be represented without a
specified name but by a distinctive numeral such as "I", "II" or
the like indicative of a partition (or chapter) number.
The present invention will now be explained with reference to the
accompanying drawings in conjunction with the case where the
invention is employed in a Japanese word processor by way of
example. It is of course that the present invention is not limited
to the Japanese word processor but may be applied to a word
processor for any language.
In FIG. 1 which is a block diagram showing the construction of a
Japanese word processor to which the present invention is applied,
reference numeral 1 designates an input unit such as a keyboard for
inputting characters, commands, and so on, numeral 2 a display unit
such as a CRT for displaying characters, figures, and so on, and
numeral 3 a storage unit which may be a semiconductor memory or a
magnetic storage and in which produced document data, various
tables, character data, page pattern data, data to be displayed as
an auxiliary display screen image, and so on as will be described
hereinafter, are stored. Numeral 4 designates a printing unit such
as a wire dot printer, and numeral 5 a control section such as a
microprocessor for controlling the above-mentioned components. The
control section 5 includes an editing control unit 51, an in-page
layout editing unit 52, an in-document layout editing unit 53, an
area editing unit 54, a page editing unit 55, a chapter editing
unit 56 and a document editing unit 57.
Next, explanation will be made of the respective units constructing
the control section 5. The editing control unit 51 performs a
control for change-over between two editing modes, that is, an
in-page layout editing mode and an in-document layout editing mode.
In the in-page layout editing mode, the in-page layout editing unit
52 is enabled to make a control for various types of editing in
accordance with an instruction or request from an operator while
displaying on a screen of the display unit 2 a layout of the whole
of one page of a document to by produced. In the in-document layout
editing mode, the in-document layout editing unit 53 is enabled to
make a control for various types of editing while displaying a
layout of the whole of the document on the screen of the display
unit 2 by virtue of page patterns, chapter names, etc. The various
types of editing in the present embodiment are carried out by the
editing units 54 to 57. The area editing unit 54 performs the
creation of an area in a page in which information such as
characters, figures or the like is to be represented or
materialized, the actual representation of the information into the
area, the updating of a certain area, and the size change,
duplication, movement or the like of a specified area. The page
editing unit 55 performs the editing for every one of pages forming
the document, for example, the duplication, movement or deletion of
a page. The chapter editing unit 56 performs the editing for every
one of chapters forming the document, for example, the duplication,
movement or deletion of a chapter. The document editing unit 57
performs the editing in units of document, for example, the
printing or registration of a document.
The producing and editing of a document in the Japanese word
processor according to the present embodiment are carried out as
follows.
First, a processing made by the editing control unit 51 enabled
when in an initial state an operator instructs or requests to newly
produce a document or to update the previously produced document,
will be explained with reference to FIG. 6A.
The editing control unit 51 first determines whether the request
from the operator is the new document production or the document
updating and initializes document data in the case of the new
document production or fetches data to be updated from the storage
unit 3 in the case of the document updating (see step 1001 in FIG.
6A). The initialization processing for document data in the case of
the new document production includes producing as initial data the
first page of the first chapter of the document to be newly
produced. Explanation of the construction of document data will be
made in later. The initialization processing further includes
setting into a display management table 300 (see FIG. 3) an editing
mode 301 and the chapter and page numbers 302 and 303 of a chapter
and a page to be first layout-displayed. In this stage of
processing, the editing mode is set to "1" so that the editing of
the document is started in an in-page layout editing mode which
will be explained in later. Also, a page from which layout-display
is to be started is set to a leading page in the document, that is,
the first page of the first chapter in the document. Subsequently
to the above initialization processing, the editing mode 301 is
judged (step 1002) and the document is produced in accordance with
the corresponding editing mode. For example, immediately after the
document production has been instructed, an in-page layout editing
is to be carried out since the editing mode 301 is set to "1" in
step 1001. In the case where the change of editing mode has been
instructed and completed in steps 1003 and 1004 which will be
explained in later, the judgement in step 1002 is made again and
the mode is changed to another editing mode (for example, in the
case where the in-page layout editing has been carried out, a
change to an in-document layout editing is made through step 1004).
In the case where the completion of editing is indicated, the
production of document is terminated in accordance with a similar
judgement processing.
Now, the construction of document data will be explained by virtue
of FIGS. 2A to 2E.
Document data is made of a chapter management table 210 shown in
FIG. 2A, a page management table 20 shown in FIG. 2B, a page format
table 230 shown in FIG. 2C, an area management table 240 shown in
FIG. 2D, and in-area data 260 shown in FIG. 2E. Each table includes
a plurality of blocks. In the case of the new document production,
the contents of each table are cleared through the initialization
process and related data are written into the corresponding table
in accordance with the construction of a document inputted by a
user. In the following, explanation will be made of each table.
Chapter Management Table 210
The chapter management table 210 manages how many chapters form the
whole of a document. The chapter management table has, for every
chapter, page pointers 211 and 212 indicative of leading and ending
pages of the corresponding chapter. The chapter management table
further holds, for every chapter, print information 213 for
displaying/printing of header, footer, etc. and a chapter name 214
given to the corresponding chapter.
Page Management Table 220
The page management table 220 manages the order of arrangement of
pages which form a document, formats which are used in the
respective pages, and areas which are created or established in the
pages and in which characters, figures or graphs are represented or
materialized. Each block of the page management table has data
concerning the corresponding page, that is, area pointers 223 and
224 indicative of leading and ending areas among areas established
in that page (i.e. addresses of those regions of the area
management table 240 in which data of the leading and ending areas
are stored), a page format pointer 225 indicative of format data
used in that page. The blocks in the page management table are not
always arranged in the order of pages. Therefore, each block for
any given page further has a rear pointer 221 indicative of the
block of a page succeeding the given page and a front pointer 222
indicative of the block for a page preceding the given page. The
leading and ending pages are pointed by the chapter management
table 210.
Page Format Table 230
The page format table 230 manages a size (A3, A4, etc.) of a paper
sheet, a direction (portrait or landscape) of the sheet, a
direction (left-to-right or up-to-down) of characters, the number
of columns, an interval between columns, top, bottom, left and
right margins, and so on as a format of a document produced.
Area Management Table 240
The area management table 240 manages the positions and sizes of
various data (for example, text data, figure data or graph data) to
be stored in a document (or page). For that purpose, the area
management table has, as position data of an area in a page, an
x-coordinate 243 of the left and upper point of the area, a
y-coordinate 244 thereof, an x-coordinate 245 of the right and
lower point of the area, and a y-coordinate 246. As the origin of
the coordinate system is taken the left and upper point of a
portion of the page excepting the margins. The table 240 further
has a data classification or identification 247 indicative of the
type of data included in the area, an area attribute 248 indicative
of an attribute of the area itself, and a data pointer 250 which
points in-area data 260. The attribute of the area itself includes
the discrimination of transparency and opaqueness and the type of a
frame line of the area. (When the attribute of a certain area is
opaqueness, an underlying portion of the opaque area is invisible.)
In order to manage the order of overlapping of a plurality of areas
in the same page, the areas are interlinked to each other by rear
and front pointers 241 and 242 in the area management table 240.
This linakge of areas is made in a direction from an area having a
lower priority toward an area having a higher priority, that is,
from the lowermost area in that page up to the uppermost area. The
leading and ending areas in that page are pointed by the page
management table 220. Furthermore, the area management table 240
has status information 249 indicative of whether or not the
pertinent area is being subjected to an editing.
In-Area Data
The in-area data 260 is data stored in any area and includes text
data, figure data, graph data, image data or the like.
If the in-page layout editing is requested in step 1003, the
in-page layout editing unit 52 performs a processing in accordance
with a flow chart shown in FIG. 6B.
First, the number 311 of areas (see FIG. 4A) in a designated-object
table for in-page layout is cleared to zero (step 1101 in FIG. 6B).
Next, an in-page layout 420 and auxiliary information 410 (see FIG.
7A) are displayed on a screen of the display unit 2 in accordance
with the display chapter number 302 and the display page number 303
(step 1102) and an input request is issued to the input unit 1
(step 1103). The auxiliary information includes the chapter number
401 of a chapter in which a page being layout-displayed exists, a
name 404 of the chapter, the number 403 of pages included in the
chapter, a consecutive page number 402 of the layout-displayed page
in the chapter, the number 406 of pages included in the document to
be produced, and a consecutive page number 405 of the
layout-displayed page in the document (see FIG. 7A). Then, the
results of an input from the operator are judged (step 1104). In
the case where an area for which an operation or treatment is
desired is designated, the in-page layout editing unit 52
determines, which area is being designated, on the basis of the
display chapter and page numbers 302 and 303 of the chapter and
page being displayed, a designated position of that area in a page,
and position data 243 to 246 of that area, and registers the area
number of that area into the designated-object table for in-page
layout (step 1105). The designated-object table for in-page layout
includes the number 311 of areas and an area number 312, as shown
in FIG. 4A. The area number of the area designated by the operator
is registered into the area number field 312 and the number 311 of
areas is incremented by +1.
On the other hand, in the case where the request from the operator
is the new creation of an area, the updating of the previously
created area, or another editing treatment in units of area (for
example, the size change, attribute change, duplication, movement
or deletion of an area), the area editing unit 54 performs the
requested editing of the pertinent area (step 1106). In the case
where an editing treatment in units of page such as the format
change, insertion, addition, duplication, movement or deletion of a
certain page is requested, the page editing unit 55 performs the
requested editing of that page (step 1107). In the case where an
editing treatment in units of chapter such as the name change,
insertion, addition, duplication, movement or delection of a
certain chapter is requested, the chapter editing unit 56 performs
the requested editing of that chapter (step 1108). In the case
where an editing treatment in units of document such as printing or
registration is requested, the document editing unit 57 performs
the requested document editing (step 1109). In the page editing
treatment among the above-mentioned editing treatments, the page
and chapter being displayed on the in-page layout display screen is
handled as an object to be treated. (Detailed explanation of the
page editing and the chapter editing will be made in later.)
When the request from the operator is the change of display page
to, for example, the preceding page or the next page, the display
chapter number 302 and the display page number 303 in the display
management table 300 are updated (step 1110), a layout for the
pertinent page is displayed (step 1102).
In the case where the request from the operator is one other than
the above-mentioned requests or the change of editing mode, the
editing mode 301 in the display management table 300 is set to "2"
(step 1111), thereby terminating the processing. In the case where
the completion of editing is indicated, the editing mode 301 is set
to "0" (step 1112), thereby terminating the processing.
When the change of editing mode is requested in step 1111, the
editing mode 301 is set to "2". As a result, the processing
proceeds to an in-document layout editing (step 1004) through the
judgement of editing mode in step 1002.
Next, a processing made by the in-document layout editing unit 53
will be explained along a flow chart shown in FIG. 6C.
First, the initialization processing for a cursor table 330 is made
(step 1201). As shown in FIG. 5, the cursor table 330 includes
three information, that is, identification 331 indicative of either
the chapter information position or the page pattern position on
the in-page layout displaying screen (see FIG. 8A) to which a
cursor is set, the chapter number 332 indicative of the chapter
number of a chapter to which the cursor is set, and the page number
333 indicative of the page number of a page to which the cursor is
set.
In step 1201, the chapter number 332 and the page number 333 in the
cursor table 330 are set in accordance with the display chapter
number 302 and the display page number 303 in the display
management table 300 in order that which one of pages in a document
has been displayed in the in-page layout editing mode can be
indicated by the initial setting position of the cursor.
Subsequently, the number 322 of designated objects in a
designated-object table 320 for in-document layout is clearned to
zero (step 1202), an in-document layout 520 and auxiliary
information 510 as shown in FIG. 8A are displayed on the display
screen (step 1203), the cursor is displayed on the chapter
information or page pattern determined according to the contents of
the cursor table previously set in the step 1201 (step 1204) and an
input request is issued to the input unit 1 (step 1205).
The display of an in-document layout in the above-mentioned step
1203 will now be explained in detail by use of a flow chart shown
in FIG. 6D.
First, a chapter counter CC and a display line counter provided in
the storage unit 3 and used in the subsequent processing are set to
"1" (step 1301). Next, a judgement is made of whether or not the
chapter counter CC exceeds the number of chapters produced in the
whole of a document (step 1302). Namely, the subsequent display
processing is repeated times equal to the number of chapters
produced. If the chapter counter CC does not exceed the number of
chapters produced, the chapter number 501 of a chapter, the chapter
name 502 of that chapter, the page number 503 of a leading page in
that chapter in the whole of the document, and the page number 504
of an ending page in that chapter in the whole of the document are
displayed as chapter information on a line indicated by the display
line counter (step 1303). Then, a page counter PC provided in the
storage unit 3 is cleared to zero (step 1304). Next, a judgement is
made of whether or not the page counter PC exceeds the number of
pages produced in the pertinent chapter (step 1305). Namely, the
subsequent display processing is repeated times equal to the number
of pages produced. If the page counter PC does not exceed the
number of pages produced, there is judged whether or not the number
of the remaining pages in the pertinent chapter is greater than 10
(step 1306). Namely, the subsequent page pattern display is made
partitively for every ten pages. When the number of the remaining
pages is greater than 10, format information (inclusive of sheet
size and sheet direction) for the pertinent ten pages and the
corresponding page pattern data are read from the page format table
230 and the storage unit 3, respectively, and are displayed as page
information on the display unit 2 (step 1307). And, "10" or the
number of pages displayed is added into the page counter PC (step
1308). On the other hand, the number of the remaining pages is not
greater than 10, the page patterns for the remaining pages are
similarly displayed on the display unit 2 (step 1309) and a value
equal to the number of pages displayed is added into the page
counter PC (step 1310). In the step 1309, a chapter end mark 506
(see FIG. 8A) is further displayed in order to indicate that the
pertinent position is the end of the pertinent chapter. After the
above display processing, the display line counter is incremented
by +1 (step 1311) and the processing is returned to step 1305 to
display page information.
In the case where step 1305 determines that the page counter PC
exceeds the number of pages in the pertinent chapter, "1" is added
into the chapter counter CC (step 1312) and the process is returned
to the step 1302 to display the next chapter.
When step 1302 determines the completion of display of all
chapters, a document end mark 507 (see FIG. 8A) is displayed (step
1313), thereby terminating the in-document layout display
processing.
An example of the page pattern data used in the above-mentioned
in-document layout display processing is shown in FIG. 11. Those
data corresponding to various formats are preliminarily prepared
and are read from the storage unit 3 in accordance with the
requested display.
Returning to FIG. 6C, when any input is supplied from the operator,
a judgement of the results of the input is made (step 1206). In the
case where the designation of an object (i.e. page or chapter) to
which any treatment is desired is instructed or the release (or
cancellation) of the previously designated object is instructed, a
processing for designation/release of the object to be treated is
performed in accordance with the instruction (step 1207).
Here, the object designation/release processing will be explained
in detail by virtue of FIG. 6E.
Prior to the detailed explanation of the object designation/release
processing, reference will be made to the contents of the
designated-object table 320 for in-document layout. As shown in
FIG. 4B, the table 320 has a designated-object identification 321
indicative of which one of either a chapter or a page is being
designated as an object to be treated, and the number 322 of
designated objects indicative of whether or not an object to be
treated is being designated. The number 322 of designated objects
indicates in the case of "0" a condition that no object to be
treated is being designated, in the case of "1" a condition that
one page or chapter represented by the start chapter number 322 or
the start page number 324 is being designated, and in the case of
"2" a condition that chapters or pages over a range defined by the
start and chapter numbers 323 and 325 or the start and end page
numbers 324 and 326 are being designated.
Now, the object designation/release processing is carried out as
follows. First, a position of the cursor is read from the cursor
table 330 (step 1401 in FIG. 6E). Next, there is judged whether a
processing mode is the designation or release of an object (step
1402). In the case of the object designation, a judgement is made
of whether or not a position of the cursor on the in-document
layout display image shown in FIG. 8A correctly coincides with the
position read from the cursor table 330 (step 1403). When the
cursor position is not correct, for example, when the designation
is made for a position where no object is being displayed, a sound
informing the operator of abnormality is generated (step 1414),
thereby terminating the processing. On the other hand, when the
cursor position is correct, a judgement is made of whether or not
anything has already been designated (step 1404). In the case where
nothing has been designated (or the number 322 of designated
objects is zero), that is, in the case where no registration is
made, a chapter or a page at which the cursor is present is
regarded as the designated object and the pertinent identification
331, chapter number 332 and page number 333 are registered in the
corresponding fields 321, 323 and 324 of the designated-object
table 320 and the number 322 of designated objects is incremented
by +1 (step 1410). And, the designated object is pick-displayed
(step 1411). On the other hand, in the case where the step 1404
determines that anything has already been designated, a judgement
is made of whether or not identifications are the same, that is,
whether or not the identification 331 in the cursor table 330 and
the designated-object identification 321 in the designated-object
table 320 are the same (step 1405). In the case of the same
identification, the number of objects which has already been
designated is determined (step 1406). When the number is "1", the
pick-display is released once (step 1407) and thereafter the
registration into the table and the pick-display are made. When two
objects have been registered (that is, a range designation has been
made), the pick-display is released once (step 1408), the table is
thereafter cleared (step 1409) and the designated contents are
registered into the table. Namely, in the case where one object has
been designated, a new designation is regarded as a designation at
the second point in a range designation. On the other hand, in the
case where two object have been designated (that is, a range
designation has been made) or in the case where the identifications
are different, the previous designation is cancelled once and a new
designation is registered as the first designation into the table.
When the step 1402 determines the designation release mode, the
pick-display is released (step 1412) and the table is cleared (step
1413), thereby terminating the processing.
The "pick-display" referred to in the above-mentioned processing is
made in order to inform the operator of what is the designated
object. In the pick-display, the designated object is displayed
with inversed black and white. In FIGS. 8B to 8E, a portion being
pick-displayed is screened.
Here, the pick-display will be further explained by virtue of FIG.
6F.
First, a judgement is made of whether or not the number 322 of
designated objects is greater than zero (step 1501). When the
number 322 is greater than zero, that is, when anything is
designated as an object to be treated, the identification 321 of
the designated object is determined (step 1502). In the case where
a page is designated, there is judged whether or not the number 322
of designated objects is 1 (one) (step 1503). When the number 322
is 1 (one), a pick-display as shown in FIG. 8B is made (step 1504).
When the number 322 is 2 (two), a pick-display as shown in FIG. 8C
is made (step 1505). Also in the case where a chapter is
designated, a similar judgement of the number 322 of designated
objects is made (step 1506) and a pick-display as shown in FIG. 8D
or 8E corresponding to the results of judgement (step 1507 or
1508).
Again returning to FIG. 6C, in the case where the request from the
operator is an ending treatment or operation in units of page such
as the format change, insertion, addition, duplication, movement or
deletion of a page, the page editing unit 55 performs the requested
editing of the pertinent page (step 1208). In the case where the
request from the operator is an editing treatment in units of
chapter such as the name change, insertion, addition, duplication,
movement or deletion of a chapter, the chapter editing unit 56
performs the requested editing of the pertinent chapter (step
1209). In the case where the request from the operator is an
editing treatment in units of document such as printing or
registration, the document editing unit 57 performs the requested
document editing (step 1210). In the page or chapter editing among
these editings, the page or chapter designated on a screen on which
the in-document layout is displayed is handled as an object to be
treated. (Detailed explanation will be made in later.)
In the case where the request from the operator is the movement of
a cursor, the chapter number 332 and the page number 333 in the
cursor table 330 are updated in accordance with the designated
direction (step 1211). When the position of the cursor is moved
from the chapter information position to the page pattern position
or from the page pattern position to the chapter information
position by the rightward/leftward movement of the cursor, the
identification 331 is correspondingly updated.
In the case where the request from the operator is a request other
than the above-mentioned requests or the change of editing mode,
the editing mode 301 in the display management table 300 is set to
"1" (step 1212), thereby terminating the processing. In that case,
if an object to be treated is designated, the start chapter number
323 and the start page number 324 in the designated-object table
320 for in-document layout are set into the display chapter number
and the display page number 303 in the display management table 300
in contrast with the initialization processing in the step 1201.
Thereby, when the change of editing mode is requested after a page
desired by the operator is designated on the in-document layout
display screen image, it is possible to see the layout for the
pertinent page. In the case where the completion of editing is
designated by the operator, the editing mode is set to "0" (step
1213), thereby terminating the processing.
Next, a processing made in the page editing unit 55 will be
explained along a flow chart shown in FIG. 6G.
First, a judgement is made of whether the editing mode 301 is an
in-page layout or an in-document layout (step 1601). In the case of
the in-page layout editing mode, a page being displayed is read as
an object to be treated from the display management table 300 (step
1602). In the case of the in-document layout editing mode, on the
other hand, a page which is an object to be treated is read in
accordance with information registered in the designated-object
table 302 for in-document layout (step 1603). Next, what is a
function requested by the operator is judged (step 1604) and the
requested function is carried out (steps 1605 to 1610). Here, the
change of page format (step 1605) will be explained by way of
example. Now assume that the page format change is requested in a
state in which a plurality of pages are being designated in the
in-document layout editing mode, as shown in FIG. 8C. Then, an
auxiliary screen image for format change is displayed, as shown in
FIG. 10. Now, if the operator designates A4 size as the sheet size
and landscape as the sheet direction and instructs the execution of
a change to the designated format, format information 230 for all
pages in a range defined by the start chapter number 323, the start
page number 324, the end chapter number 325 and the end page number
326 is changed to the A4 size and the landscape direction, thereby
terminating the processing. As a result, an in-document layout is
displayed again through the step 1203 (see FIG. 6C) but with a
screen image changed as shown in FIG. 8F.
Finally, a processing made in the chapter editing unit 56 will be
explained along a flow chart shown in FIG. 6H.
First, like the case of the page editing, a judgement is made of
whether the editing mode 301 is an in-page layout or an in-document
layout (step 1701). In the case of the in-page layout editing mode,
a chapter being displayed is read as an object to be treated from
the display management table 300 (step 1702). In the case of the
in-document layout editing mode, on the other hand, a chapter which
is an object to be treated is read in accordance with information
registered in the designated-object table 320 for in-document
layout (step 1703). Next, what is a function requested by the
operator is judged (step 1704) and the requested function is
carried out (steps 1705 to 1710). Here, the chapter name change
(step 1705) and the chapter movement (step 1709) will be explained
by way of example. Now assume that the chapter name change is
requested in a state in which the first chapter is being displayed
in the in-page layout editing mode, as shown in FIG. 7A. Then, an
auxiliary screen image for name change is displayed, as shown in
FIG. 9. Now, if the operator inputs a new chapter name of "PURPOSE
OF DEVELOPMENT" and instructs the execution of a change to the
designated name, the chapter name 214 (see FIG. 2A) of the first
chapter in the document data is changed in accordance with the
chapter name read in the step 1702, thereby terminating the
processing. As a result, a screen image is displayed again through
step 1102 (see FIG. 6B) but with the changed chapter name 404 as
shown in FIG. 7B. Also, now assume that in a state in which the
first chapter is being designated in the in-document layout editing
mode as shown in FIG. 8D, the operator requests the movement of
that chapter to a document end mark 507 (or the end of the
document). Then, the order or sequence of chapters in the chapter
management table 210 is rearranged such that a chapter indicated by
the start chapter number 323 stored in the designated-object table
320 for in-document layout becomes the last chapter in the
document, and thereby the processing is terminated. As a result, an
in-document layout is displayed again through step 1203 (see FIG.
6C) but with a screen image changed as shown by FIG. 8G.
As has been mentioned above, according to the present embodiment,
all pages forming a document are displayed by patterns
corresponding to the pages. Also, when the number of pages is
increased, the pages are displayed partitively for every
predetermined number of pages. Therefore, it is possible to easily
confirm or recognize the construction of pages in the document.
Further, in the case where the whole of the document is constructed
by a plurality of chapters, an in-document layout is displayed
partitively for every chapter while a consecutive chapter number, a
start page number and an end page number are displayed for each
chapter. Therefore, when the number of pages and the number of
chapters are increased, it is possible to readily understand or
recognize what pages and chapters as well as how many pages and
chapters construct the document.
Furthermore, a layout of the whole of a page (in-page layout) and a
layout of the whole of a document (in-document layout) are
interchangeable. Therefore, if a page is designated on the
in-document layout when a change-over from the in-document layout
to the in-page layout is made, the contents of the pertinent page
can be confirmed immediately on the in-page layout. On the other
hand, when a change-over from the in-page layout to the in-document
layout is made, there is indicated which page on the in-document
layout does a page having been displayed on the in-page layout
correspond to. Therefore, in the case where an operation or
treatment in units of page or chapter is carried out on the
in-document layout, a page or chapter to be treated can be
designated with no error. Moreover, each of the editing in units of
page and the editing in units of chapter can be carried out on each
of the in-page layout and the in-document layout. Therefore, when
the editing in units of page or chapter is carried out, it is
possible to surely and readily perform the page or chapter editing
on a layout which is desired by an operator.
As is apparent from the foregoing, in a document producing
apparatus according to the present invention, since all pages
forming a document are displayed by patterns corresponding to the
pages and since the pages are displayed partitively for every
predetermined number of pages in the case where the number of pages
is increased, the construction of pages in the document can be
confirmed easily, thereby improving a workability or operability in
performing the editing in units of page.
Also, it is possible to interchange an in-page layout and an
in-document layout from each other by referring to the page
patterns and the overall construction of the document which are
displayed in the above-mentioned manner. Therefore, if a page is
designated on the in-document layout when a change-over from the
in-document layout to the in-page layout is made, the contents of
the pertinent page can be confirmed immediately on the in-page
layout. On the other hand, when a change-over from the in-page
layout to the in-document layout is made, there is indicated which
page on the in-document layout does a page having been displayed on
the in-page layout correspond to. Therefore, in the case where an
operation or treatment in units of page or chapter is carried out
on the in-document layout, a page or chapter to be treated can be
designated with no error. Further, each of the editing in units of
page and the editing in units of chapter can be carried out on each
of the in-page layout and the in-document layout. Therefore, when
the editing in units of page or chapter is carried out, it is
possible to surely and readily perform the page or chapter editing
on a layout which is desired by an operator.
* * * * *